Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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824. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider making the one-off €1,000 reduction in the undergraduate student contribution fee for higher education students a universal payment to all undergraduate students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55122/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In Budget 2023, I gave priority to introducing a significant package of measures that will see students and families directly benefit and will help them tackle the challenges posed by the increased cost of living.

In 2022 these measures include:

- Higher education students who are eligible for my Department's free fees schemes will benefit from a once off reduction in the student contribution rate of €1,000 for the 2022/2023 academic year.  Students eligible for a 50% student contribution grant support as paid by SUSI will benefit proportionally and will see the amount they pay to their institution reduce from €1,500 to €1,000.

- A reduction of up to 33% in the contribution fee for apprentices for the 2022/2023 academic year

- A once-off additional maintenance payment to be paid on the 16th December 2022. This payment will be made to all students who are in receipt of a maintenance grant payment and will include PLC students, undergraduate students and postgraduate students who are in receipt of the Special Rate of Grant,

- Post Graduate Students who meet the eligibility criteria for a Postgraduate Fee Contribution Grant will benefit from a once off increase in their grant of €1,000 from €3,500 to €4,500. 

- I have also secured a further €8 million of funding for the Student Assistance Fund for the current academic year. This will mean that for the 2022/23 academic year, there will be €17.1m available through this fund. 

- PhD students funded by SFI and the IRC will also benefit from a once off payment of €500 in the current academic year.

The once off reduction of €1,000 relates specifically to the student contribution payable by students eligible for free tuition fees under my Department's free fees schemes in academic year 22/23 and will reduce the student contribution payable from €3,000 to €2,000 in 22/23. In this regard, all full time undergraduate students eligible for free fees and paying the student contribution will benefit from this measure. 

I am conscious that not all students are eligible for free fees or student grants and so, as part of the cost-of-living measures, I have, as referenced above, allocated a further €8 million of funding for the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) for the current academic year.  This Fund provides financial support to students who are experiencing financial difficulties while attending college and can provide assistance towards their rent, childcare costs, transport costs and books/class materials. It is open to both full and part-time registered students on courses of not less than one year's duration leading to an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification. Applications can be made under the SAF through the Access Office in a student’s third level institution.